Alleged Detroit-Warren Drug Leader Arrested

The alleged leader of the Detroit-to-Warren drug pipeline turned himself into police early Monday.

Valentino Thomas, 41, of both Detroit and Warren, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday in U.S. Northern District Court in Cleveland to charges of conspiracy and three counts of distributing 58 grams of heroin to undercover federal agents between November and January.

Thomas was ordered detained until his case is completed. Thomas was known by other names, including Big Bear, Big Tino and Bro Bro, according to the indictment.

The indictment says Thomas talked with an undercover agents about purchasing heroin and eventually bought 20 ounces of heroin from a street dealer. Three days later, the agent bought 28 ounces of the drug directly from Thomas.

The indictment alleges Thomas and Derrick Peete, 23, of Detroit, obtained drugs in Detroit and sold them to Anthony L. Ector, 29, of Warren, to distribute to 18 street dealers, including Thomas’ son Valentino Thomas Jr., who sold the drugs in various locations including the Hair Depot, Big Lots, Walmart, across from Warren G. Harding High School and the Family Dollar.

Valentino Thomas Jr., 22, however, was arrested last week in Warren. He was ordered detained until a detention hearing on Wednesday.

Peete, Thomas Sr., and many of the street dealers, have violent criminal pasts with ties to murder and other violent crimes. Peete is currently facing aggravated murder charges for a November shootout in downtown Warren that left career criminal Marco Dukes, 32, dead and felon Larry Smith wounded.

Echo is facing 21 counts of distributing heroin and Peete is facing two counts of heroin dealing. Echo was apprehended Wednesday.

Valentino Thomas, and his sister, Yolanda Holmes, who died in a fatal fire in March 2012, met with city officials three days later to try and keep Clancy’s opened. It was eventually shuttered.

Investigators said after that shooting they suspected Detroit gangs were involved in the shooting.

The pipeline, dismantled by a 99-count federal indictment unsealed last week , included violent felons connected with several murders in both cities.

Nearly all of the 21 people indicted as leaders, middlemen and street dealers had criminal records involving aggravated assault, drug offenses, burglaries, robberies and shootings. Others were recognized as suspects in several area robberies, including gun thefts, according to a search of county records.

Warren leaders have long said the Detroit drug pipeline resulted in violence that erupted into gunfire and murder.

Ector has relatively no criminal history in either places. He was arrested in 2011 for possessing marijuana and driving 30 miles per hour faster than the speed limit in Weathersfield. He gave police a Michigan identification card and said he was driving from the Go Go Lounge, reports said.

Peete, however, is currently facing aggravated murder charges for fatally shooting career criminal Marco Dukes, 32, and wounding felon Larry Smith, 29, during a mid-day November shootout near downtown Warren.

Peete and Dale Hatch, 25, also from Detroit and charged in the murder, have extensive criminal records in both Warren and Detroit.

The indictment says Peete, on Nov. 7, four days before the shooting, and Ector talked about Peete exchanging heroin for a $200 handgun with an extended clip. The indictment says Ector intended to bring the gun to Peete’s home.

Peete’s record in Detroit began in 2008 and he was arrested in Warren in July before becoming involved in the shootout case. When he was arrested he was free on bond on a felony drug possession charge filed in July in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Reports said officers pulled him over July 30 while driving on Youngstown Road S.E. and found a baggie with four grams of heroin tucked in his underwear and $5,900 cash in his pocket. Also in the car was James Cohen 23, who has an extensive criminal history was named as a street dealer in Wednesday’s indictment, had $6,000 in his pocket.

Peete was convicted for several crimes in Detroit, including drug trafficking in 2008 and unlawful use of a motor vehicle in 2011. He was also convicted in Warren for aggravated drug trafficking in 2009.

Peete was charged in the 2009 drug case after he was arrested at home owned by Valentino Thomas, which was previously reported by WKBN.COM.

Cohen, 23, of Detroit and Warren, whom was caught riding in a car with Peete with money and drugs, is facing charges of distributing crack and being a felon with a gun.

Cohen, according to Third Judicial Circuit records, was found guilty last week of second-degree homicide committed April 8, 2012 after a bench trial. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 3. Cohen is also facing a first-degree premeditated homicide charge from an Oct. 3, 2012 incident, according to records.

In 2011, charges including felonious assault and armed robbery were dismissed against Cohen and he pleaded guilty in 2007 to carrying concealed weapons.

Another major player in the pipeline, according to the indictment, is Lewis Powell III, 33, of Warren, who is facing four counts of distributing heroin, 14 counts of being a felon in possession of firearms, possessing guns with obliterated serial numbers and possessing body armor as a felon.

Powell, too, has criminal histories in both Warren and Detroit dating to his first conviction for stealing a car in 1994 in Detroit. Records show Powell has been arrested in Detroit for a home invasion, breaking and entering, robbery and possessing ecstasy. In Warren, he’s been charged with improperly handling firearms, escape, felonious assault, assaulting a police officer and criminal damaging.

Another street dealer, Chance Wells, 22, of Warren, who was charged with distributing heroin, has ties to at least one Warren murder victim. Wells, according to a search of records, was arrested March 3, 2008, with murder victim Kristopher Kyser for breaking into a man’s home in Champion Township and smashing him on the head with glass bottles.

The attacked caused the man to be hospitalized with a five-inch gash. Chase and Kyser were arrested by police after a foot chase through backyards in Champion.

Both were charged with felonies that were amended to misdemeanors. Kyser told police he was at the home making a drug deal.

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